


Waves of Love And Time

by squidgie



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Character Death Fix, F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-09 14:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19477579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidgie/pseuds/squidgie
Summary: Set after Torchwood's S01E13 "End of Days", this is what I think happened as a result of Gwen asking Jack Harkness the question, "What memory would tempt you to open the rift?"





	Waves of Love And Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Selenic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenic/gifts).



> This is a much overdue gift fic for the incredible Selenic. I just rewatched Torchwood S01, and though I've contemplated how to write this for probably 4 years now, it finally came to me yesterday. I hope you like it, sweetpea.

Gwen's words haunted him as he took those first uneasy steps toward the workroom. Sure, he was still weak from confronting the Abaddon and had breathed his first breath in days. But Gwen's question of, "What memory would tempt you to open the rift?" bounced around his head, silenced only by one thought.

His namesake.

But Jack didn't want to say that, because there was no help bringing back a man long dead, his body now part of the Earth. Except was there? "The right kind of Doctor," Jack finally said. And once he heard the familiar sound, papers flitting about on a sudden gust of wind, finally allowed himself a smile.

He didn't care about the lights or the captive wind that swirled papers about the workroom. And his expression brightened when the door to the TARDIS opened, revealing a smiling face.

"Going my way?"

Jack reached out and took The Doctor's hand. He shut the door behind them and watched as The Doctor got them underway once again.

~*~*~

They were a few days into their journey - or at least what felt like a few days. Jack and The Doctor had skipped around a few different timelines, picking up things here, rescuing people there. It was comforting to be able to help people without the burden of care to weigh him down. Deposited in America's deep South, he charmed his way into the home of an upper-class couple in the antebellum South sometime in the mid-1780s, left there after The Doctor said he would be back soon. The entire household was captivated by his tales, and for a little while, Jack forgot about his worries. But as Waylon and Eleanor Cranham, the man and woman of the sizable plantation, took him to bed that night, his thoughts once again turned to Gwen. To Ianto. Owen. Tosh. And as Waylon looked at him with naked hunger, his thoughts went to Captain Harkness, who had looked at him with the same desire, and kissed with the same desperation that tugged at his lips just like this moment.

He closed his eyes and thought of Jack as his dull fingernails glided over the naked skin of Eleanor's thigh, of Waylon's stomach. But even lust wouldn't let Jack escape his memories. And later, as he slept with both Waylon and Eleanor wrapped around him, he dreamed of Jack.

~*~*~

The Doctor reappeared one late afternoon while Jack was taking a walk along the cotton fields. Stealing the TARDIS was relatively easy. He'd done it before. And The Doctor even seemed to expect it. His, "Now, Jack," and the quick shake of his head said that he knew what Jack was up to. Besides, would it really count as stealing if Jack could bring the TARDIS back to that exact moment? Would The Doctor even know?

Probably. But Jack didn't care.

The sound of The Doctor's footfalls along the red Georgian clay path had barely softened by the time Jack was in the TARDIS and at the controls. He knew the date; that part came naturally, and with a few button pushes and lever pulls, he was there. But getting the exact location, well, that was a little harder. Besides, there was an air war going on, even if he was in the middle of what was supposed to be a training exercise.

It took a little while, but Jack finally spotted the tail number of the RAF plane and guided the TARDIS closer. He waited until there was a strafe of friendly fire and watched in horror as Captain Harkness's plane sputtered and flames began shooting from the engine. It wasn't more than an instant before the plane started to nose-dive, and Jack went in pursuit. He got close enough to see the anguished face of Captain Harkness behind the controls, eyes wide. Jack pushed the TARDIS and managed to move a few hundred feet in front of it, matching the plane's angle and speed, but commanded the TARDIS to begin to slow. 

Several seconds passed before he managed to get to the door, which he flung open. The second door rarely opened, but for it to work, Jack pulled a couple of switches and managed to get it to fly open. He jumped out of the way just as the TARDIS began to slow, and the P-51 Mustang drew closer. Jack, who hoped that he was able to be seen in the cockpit, gave the pilot a thumbs up, and then slid to the side.

The propeller broke off as the body of the plane began to slide into the TARDIS, flames leaping from the engine. Jack grabbed a fire extinguisher as a bewildered-looking Captain Harkness looked on, the cockpit of the plane now settled firmly on the floor of the TARDIS. It took little to douse the flames, but longer to grasp at the handle that covered the cockpit. Captain Harkness finally came out of his stupor and pushed a button inside, and the windscreen eventually moved. "Careful, careful!" Jack called as Captain Harkness tried to lever himself out of the cockpit. Jack removed his jacket and laid it over the warmed metal, then helped Captain Harkness from the plane.

"Captain Harper?" The Captain's face was focused solely on Jack's, even with all of The Doctor's contraptions surrounding them and the smoking hulk of his doomed plane sliding across the floor behind them, both wings broken off and probably crashed to the ground by now.

"Grab my jacket," Jack called, then went to the front of the plane. Captain Harkness tossed it to him, so Jack put it over the propellor to protect his hands. "Now help me push this thing out."

It was then that he noticed the limp. Jacked pointed, but Captain Harkness shook his head. "Just a graze," he said, then helped Jack push. The plane slipped from the door of the TARDIS to crash down onto the Earth.

"Now shut the doors," Jack called back to him, then went to the controls and searched for a beautiful, quiet place to put the TARDIS down for a few days.

~*~*~

It took a while for his bewildered passenger to begin speaking, though he spoke volumes with the looks of anguish and relief that played across his face. And Jack quieted Captain Harkness's morbid thoughts of death and distress with a kiss as soon as they were safely hidden, tucked away amongst the forest. He tended to the Captain's wound, and then slotted their fingers together - just like they'd done in the club - and Jack took him to bed, holding him close as darkness covered them like a blanket.

The next morning Jack gave into being called James because it was just easier. He explained what he could, but told the Captain the less he knew, the better. They spent their days getting to know one another, and their nights wrapped around each other. Jack was happy watching Captain Harkness sleep, gliding his fingers over his naked shoulder, his chest. And bit by bit, Jack learned how to take the Captain apart. 

They spent weeks in the forest, venturing out only for when they needed provisions or for when one of them craved to talk to another person. Luckily they weren't far from a small village, and even though they didn't exactly blend in, the town was small enough that they didn't stand out.

~*~*~

"Waylon Cranham, Eleanor? May I present Jack Harkness," Jack said, gesturing to the handsomely dressed man next to him.

"That'll be all, Miss Carter," Eleanor said, dismissing the only servant in the room. The servant curtsied, then left the parlor, shutting the door behind them.

"Is this the man you were talking about, Mister Harper?" Waylon Cranham asked, looking over the new gentleman at Jack's arm. 

Jack smiled, winked at Captain Harkness, and then got close to Waylon Cranham, then pulled Eleanor to his side. He smiled up into Waylon's chocolate brown eyes. "I think we're close enough for you to call me James," he replied.

Waylon Cranham once again gave him the look of passion-filled hunger, and Jack smiled. He'd just spent weeks out in the forest with Captain Harkness, now just Jack Harkness. He'd had that look himself, and took his fill so often; he felt as if he might chafe.

"When I was here last, you said you were looking for a man to help you build a new guest hall?" Jack asked. He leaned back and put an arm around Jack Harkness. "I think you'll find Jack here is more than competent."

Captain Harkness gave the Cranham's an honest, professional, though 'deer in the headlights' look, so Jack pinched his bum. Waylon laughed out loud, Eleanor covered her mouth demurely, and Jack Harkness blushed so deep, his cheeks were the color of the setting sun at twilight.

~*~*~

After getting Captain Harkness settled into a small cottage on the side of the plantation, Jack made sure he had everything he needed. Being with Jack in a simpler time was as close to Heaven as Jack figured he might ever get. But he knew he couldn't get too comfortable. So one morning before the rooster chased away the moon with his crow, Jack slipped from the cottage and shut himself into the TARDIS. And before he could look back, he set the controls to take him back and pulled the lever.

Jack walked out and leaned against the doorway just as The Doctor turned the corner and came into view. He smiled, and Jack couldn't help but smile back, even though his heart broke for a love that had died two hundred years in the past.

"Did you get everything sorted?" The Doctor asked. He patted Jack on the shoulder, then walked into the TARDIS.

Jack gave him a sad smile and nodded. He looked The Doctor in the eyes and said, "Time to go back home."


End file.
